“This is the rose jam we just made. Let’s take a bottle each. You’ve worked hard together making it. But what interesting story were you two talking about?”
“Lady Lyudmila mentioned that our parents have improved in health ever since they got introduced to a special doctor. I’m curious about this doctor, as you tend to catch a cold easily.”
Karnov said as if to tease Asha. Asha opened her eyes wide at the sound and playfully nudged Karnov’s arm.
Everyone catches a cold in winter. You don’t get sick, though. Maybe you’re not human. If I’m not human, what am I, my dear orc friend? Anyway, all you think about is cooking every time.
The two of them were talking like that, and then they looked at Lyudmila again. To be exact, only Princess Anastasia looked at her. Karnov was holding a teacup and looking gently down at Princess Anastasia.
“Lyudmila, try putting jam on the snack. It’ll be delicious with tea too.”
Lyudmila thought she would be honest about wasting flowers if the jam tasted strange. If someone wasted flowers, sugar, and lemons to make something that they couldn’t even eat, it would be right to criticize them, no matter who it was.
“Uh, yeah. It’s… beautiful.”
It did look good. The rose jam that Princess Anastasia took out was sparkling with a transparent pink color as if it were made from rubies. However, the appearance does not guarantee the taste.
Lyudmila took a breath and spread a little jam on a thin cracker that came with it, then put it in her mouth. The crunchy cracker crumbled, allowing the rose jam to seep through.
The scent of condensed roses seemed to spread from the mouth to the whole body. As the sweet taste melted away, she felt like she was taking a bath in a beautiful bathtub with roses. Chewing the almost imperceptible rose petals gave a sensation as if she had become a fairy somehow.
“…Um, Lady Lyudmila? I’ll give you another bottle of jam.”
Lyudmila came to her senses at that remark. For some reason, Princess Anastasia was looking at her with a very pleased and shy face.
“Oh, no… No, thank you. What you’ve given me is already more than enough.”
“I want to give you more. You worked hard today gathering roses.”
When Anastasia said that, she picked up the jam jar she had placed in front of Karnov and released it in front of Lyudmila. Karnov shook his head helplessly, as if there was nothing he could do.
For some reason, it felt awkward to refuse more here. Lyudmila pursed her lips a few times, then reluctantly nodded as if there was no other choice. Continuously rejecting what the princess offered seemed impolite.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Lyudmila glanced up at Karnov, who was walking side by side beside her. Karnov was only looking ahead.
“In the future…”
“Her Highness didn’t mean to bother you, Lady Lyudmila.”
Lyudmila had been planning to talk about him, about how if Karnov didn’t want the engagement, it wasn’t something she could force. Perhaps suggesting they start by discussing pleasant topics and becoming friends could be a good idea. After all, isn’t the beginning half the battle? She wanted to bring up such a conversation because there hadn’t been any interaction between them.
But before she could bring it up…
“W,What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I’m saying this because you seem to think that Her Highness is bothering you.”
Lyudmila looked stunned, eyes widened with surprise. She had thought about that. Of course, why wouldn’t she? From dawn, being called to pick flowers, then dragged to the kitchen to make jam.
However, why would Karnov Neustadter bring up such a topic to her?
In that moment, she felt something dark, sticky, and hot welling up inside. The reason Karnov was escorting her back from the palace to the mansion was because Princess Anastasia had insisted he accompany her.
And the reason Karnov was at the gathering with Princess Anastasia today was because he had come to see her. Now, at this moment, Karnov was saying this, probably out of concern that she might harbor resentment toward Princess Anastasia.
No matter how hard she tried, it was difficult to meet and even harder to converse with someone like Princess Anastasia, yet she wielded her influence so effortlessly…!
At that moment, Lyudmila came to her senses as if she had been hit by cold water. Her heart was beating irregularly, and it was hard to believe she had such thoughts. Her fingertips turned cold.
“…Lady Lyudmila? Are you okay?”
“Ah…nothing. And I don’t think that Her Highness is bothering me. Don’t worry.”
“That’s a relief then.”
Just a moment ago, she felt like she had become a fairy while eating crackers with rose jam, but now she felt as if mud and dust were tangled up in the crevices of her tongue. All because of the thought she had just had.
“I gave up the jam, so please enjoy it.”
“Ah…oh, no. If that’s the case…”
Lyudmila panicked and tried to return one of the two bottles of jam Princess Anastasia had given her, but Karnov blocked it.
“Her Highness gave it to Lady Lyudmila, so I think you’d better eat it. Then I’ll see you at the Empire’s Protection Day event.”
When the carriage returning to the mansion came in front of them, Karnov said. Lyudmila hesitated, her lips twitching, but she managed to nod.
Karnov told her to meet him then, so she thought they could talk about it naturally. That was enough for now. It seemed like they wouldn’t see each other before the Empire’s Protection Day.
Lyudmila, still feeling the fluttering of her anxious heart, climbed onto the carriage as if fleeing. Nevertheless, once seated, as she recalled the taste of the jam she had just eaten, she felt a slow settling in her chest. Little by little.
Lyudmila patted herself on the cheek and regained her senses. The journey from the north to the capital may have been a little arduous and tiring. That seemed to be the clear reason for her thoughts.
‘Yes, I can see Lord Karnov at the Empire’s Protection Day event.’
Princess Anastasia, whom Lord Karnov had been looking at so affectionately, did not tell her not to come.
‘What’s so good about the princess?’
If she could figure that out, maybe there would be a breakthrough in another direction. Lyudmila held her hands tightly. At least until the Empire’s Protection Day event, she was determined to somehow learn Princess Anastasia’s strengths.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Did you do well seeing her off?”
“I did.”
“Did you tell her to eat a lot of jam?”
“I did.”
Karnov, who returned after seeing off Lyudmila, replied in a grim voice with his arms folded. Asha looked up at Karnov and sighed.
“Karnov, why do you seem dissatisfied again?”
“I just thought I’d feel lonely again at the Empire’s Protection Day ball.”
Surprised by the unexpected topic, Asha hurriedly denied it.
“Ah… no, what are you saying Karnov? We’re all going to play together anyway.”
After the event, a grand ball was held. Alexei’s partner at the ball had always been Asha due to the circumstances, leaving Karnov to enter alone. Although Karnov was never lacking dance partners, he always complained about loneliness and solitude during the ball.
While it might seem like a joke, no one actually took Karnov’s claim of having no dance partner seriously. However, Karnov expressed his loneliness and solitude about it every year.
“Besides, you don’t really think it’s lonely!”
“No? I think it’s very lonely and solitary, Your Highness.”
Asha tapped her heart while watching the flow of cherry blossoms around Karnov. Every time they had this conversation, Karnov would exaggerate, claiming he felt so lonely and desolate that he might as well die.
Even though Asha knew it was unavoidable, she couldn’t help but find the topic amusing! After a short time of struggling, Asha came up with a great idea.
“Ah! If Karnov feels so lonely, why don’t you go with General Yekaterina?”
“…Are you suggesting that if I feel lonely, I should enter with the general?”
“Well, I mean, you don’t have to put it that way…”
Asha grumbled in a dejected voice and repeatedly agonized over and over again, only touching the tip of her finger. In fact, there was a really simple solution. He could ask Lyudmila.
Lyudmila seemed to possess an unwavering determination in a different direction, not fearing Karnov, known as the “Spirit of Death.” Moreover Asha had a mountain of sweets to feed her.
Even if Karnov and Lyudmila entered the ballroom together and had a weak friendship with each other, it was not such a bad thing.
‘But I don’t want to hurt her feelings if she misunderstands…’
Karnov seems to have no intention of connecting with Lyudmila in any way. Furthermore, Asha, for some reason, wasn’t inclined to suggest it.
“Well, shall we go boating again?”
As a strange compensation for feeling lonely, it seemed odd, but Karnov raised his head for a different reason.
“No. After the picnic, Alexei sat silently and smiled for about thirty minutes.”
“Why, why?!”
“You fell into the water.”
“I admitted it was my mistake, didn’t I? It wasn’t you!”
“What’s your mistake? It’s my mistake.”
“I accidentally fell out while stretching my arm. You should have said that!”
“It’s my mistake not to deal with the action of Her Highness Anastasia, even though I know her movements.”
Asha clenched her hands, shook them, and wanted to say something, but there was no word that came out of her mouth. Karnov, who smiled low, crossed his arms and said.
“So, at least, during my coming-of-age ceremony next year, you won’t leave me feeling lonely, will you, Your Highness?”
“Coming-of-age ceremony?”
Asha rolled her eyes. Alexei and Karnov were of the same age, so problems keep arising.
“To ease his woes, His Highness the Crown Prince will have a coming-of-age ceremony on New Year’s Day, although a certain noble like me will have a coming-of-age ceremony together on Coming-of-Age Day in March.”
“Hmm.”
“What else are you worried about? What?”
“Why does our Karnov want to go with this grandmother?”
“Don’t go with me. Absolutely don’t go with me. I’ll go alone.”
“Oh my! Karnov, throwing a tantrum again? I’ll go with you. This grandmother will go with you~!”
“Promise.”
Karnov shifted his stance as if to say, ‘When did I say not to go together?’ and enforced the promise.
“I promise you.”
Asha made a promise with Karnov and sighed at the thought that suddenly came to her.
“Since you mentioned grandmother, about this year’s shaslingju…”
“No need to send it separately to Grandmother. Absolutely don’t send it.”
Karnov shook his head with a sober expression. It was a secret between the four that the emperor and General Yekaterina engaged in a fistfight, with a bottle of shasling each year to their winnings.
Asha thought that if Yuriev had known about it, he would have said, ‘You are like an old person who has lived forever.’
“Well… then, how about she come to the palace and have a drink with Grandfather? If I suddenly don’t give it, she might feel upset.”
About to say something, Karnov remained silent, looking at Asha. Though her petite figure had grown a bit, her peach-pink hair had become longer and her jade-green eyes were a bit brighter and deeper. However, the girl had been consistently the same since the day they first met.
If his beloved granddaughter says, ‘You two enjoy together,’ the emperor would pretend to be unable to resist and call General Yekaterina to the palace. General Yekaterina, in turn, would make a half-hearted excuse, saying she’s coming because of the drink given by Princess Anastasia. After walking a long way and not even being able to pull the thread of their dwindling friendship, Asha’s face, which was creating a reason for them to meet, was as soft and innocent as when they first met.
Asha’s face, which gave the two people, who had known each other and could not even pull together the few remaining ties of friendship, a reason to meet, was as bright and innocent as when they first met.
“Got it. I’ll deliver that message.”
Karnov said that and adjusted the collar of his coat. He then wiped the jam stain on one side of the apron he made with his fingertips, held Asha’s hand with the other hand, and kissed it lightly.
“Then I’ll get going, Your Highness.”
“Oh no, it tickles.”
Asha’s laughter echoed like the sound of tinkling glass beads.
